Published Work
Short Story
Pearl, My World
Humans live in a world where they express themselves. They can dress every day like it’s Halloween, decorate their houses with Christmas lights in July, have different hairstyles every day and people will not say anything to them. You can choose to go to school and apply to college or decide to have a different education and work to make a living. What’s funny is that there are still rules in this society. The only thing that is different is your ability to choose. With the path that you decide on, however, you have to stick with it until you prove yourself worthy of moving to a different town, filled with people who have different aspirations and values. I guess you can almost say it’s like a utopia since the world is filled with non-judgemental, accepting people except the catch is that you don’t have the choice of freedom. Having the option to choose is not the same as having freedom. If you’re caught in public with having something negative to say towards someone, it could result in solitary confinement or even the requirement of living in a community where your values and beliefs are completely different than what you have.
Some communities emphasize education, some business, some work, and some family. They can value music, beauty, fitness and more, each area is separated based on an individual’s dislikes and likes. No city is filled with people that have differing interests, if they do, they need to reevaluate their decisions and go to the government to change where they live.
Each individual is born in the same area and once they turn about 15, they decide where to want to pursue to rest of their lives. For 15 years, everyone is given the same level of education, the same amount of work to do and the same level of grading. There is no Honors, AP or even regular classes in school as everyone is viewed as an equal. They are also required to participate in an activity or sport while also having a side job. Once they turn 15, they can choose to have a higher education, pursue a career in sports or activities or even work full-time. In this society, everything is a choice and it feels like it is a choice because there is no room for negativity. This society was created to prevent judgment yet still bring diversity among individuals. The purpose behind it is to allow for creativity among those that have the same views but also pick out those that are qualified to continue on within the next society. The idea of natural selection is brought back like those that surpass their peers in their community are able to be more successful than those that are unable to. If they are unable to thrive within their own community of talents and interests, they are given the opportunity to start again within the next life and be behind everyone else or they can choose to sacrifice their life or choose to be a part the town that emphasizes community service and build up a certain number of hours to make up for the lost time they had not being able to thrive within their own area.
There are multiple tiers to life in this world as no one dies but simply goes to the next aspect of life. Once they are done their purpose on earth, they go to the next society or planet to use their previous experiences on their life on earth to further impact the next life.
That’s the society for humans. For animals like me, it’s different. Hello! My name is Pearl Kim and I am a mix between a Maltese and a Poodle. Humans have it easy in comparison to us. They get to live the lives they want based on what their interests are and what they are good at. Pets, on the other hand, need to show their worthiness of being kept as a pet to their owner. We have to go through various types of training that require us to show whether we can control ourselves as canines while also showing the smart aspect of one another. Our training lasts about 12 days then for the next four days they test us on our abilities. They check skill, intelligence, self-control, appearance, smell, hearing and the list goes on.
My story, however, is different. I wasn’t chosen to be a part of a family, rather I was assigned to it. When I was first born, I was the only puppy out of my litter that had a longer nose than all my brothers and sisters along with that the fact that I had a shorter tail. In the world of pets, I was viewed as inferior because I was different from those around me. It didn’t bother me until they took me out of the liter and isolated me in my own cage, with a black drape covered over so I couldn’t see. The next thing I knew, a family of four was gathered around me, staring blankly at me.
“This is the dog that your daughter will be taking care of to cover her community service.” The short lady with a clipboard who was standing next to my cage said and continued to talk. She said something about community service hours, volunteering, a disabled dog etc. I guess I am disabled now I thought to myself as I slowly slumped my head on the blankets. Why was I considered “community service”? What the heck was this girl gonna do with me? Is she volunteering to kill off my gene pool? My fur? What was it? As I continuously pondered these thoughts, I realized everyone else in the room left and it was just me and the girl.
She came up to the cage, then slid open the door. I blankly stared at her as we both waited for one another to do something. I slowly placed my paw outside of the cage then sat upright in front of her. She bent down on her knees then sat too so that we were face to face with one another.
“Hi there Pearl, my name is Emma. I guess I’ll start by saying that I’m not your average owner and that I basically failed in life. Hopefully, we can be there for each other through these community hours because they say you have some problems too.”
Problems? I ain’t got no problems. I’m different but that doesn’t mean I’m a problem. I bark at her so that she knows I’m not happy.
“Okay! Sorry, no problems … ummm you’re different, and so am I. So we have one thing in common and hopefully, that’s enough to get us through these 30 days.”
30 days? That’s some short community hours she’s putting in. And I still don’t understand how I’m a part of this. Like I didn’t choose her, she didn’t choose me so who knows how this will turn out? I am honestly baffled at how our government system works these days? They just pair us up based on how different we are huh? Well, we’ll see about that.
I run to the door as fast as my four legs can and just as I’m about to jump through the window. I hear something. I stop when I turn my head slightly to see that she’s on the floor with drops of water coming down her face. She’s crying. My pride hurts as I stopped there midway instead of going through with my plan so instead I try to be as slick as possible by walking towards her. She notices me and I stop right in my tracks. Shoot! How do I know she’s not pretending to cry so that I’ll feel bad for her and come running back?! With this thought in mind, I stay there and instead plop my face on the floor and wait for her next move.
“I don’t even know why I’m crying. I mean it’s my fault for not studying enough to pass the exam. I mean, my talent was studying for goodness sakes! Like I chose to further my education and I chose to live in that community yet I don’t understand why the information didn’t click when I was taking the exam. It’s funny because when my sso-called friends found out that I didn’t make it, they didn’t even care to text me or encourage me. They left for their trip to Vegas without me and even took my freaking bathing suit.”
She didn’t seem upset now, but rather angry. I wasn’t sure what she would do next so I stayed in my place.
“When I found out I failed my exam, the university sent me an email giving me two options. I could either start over again in a new community or build my volunteer hours here and take the exam again to see if I have the ability to thrive in the next life.”
I felt bad now… I mean, if she chose to further pursue her education, it meant that she actually liked studying and was confident in it. I didn’t understand why but for some reason I felt for her. Whenever a tear fell down her face, I felt a pang of guilt in my heart for trying to leave her. As much as I believed it was important to embrace one’s differences, I also knew that humans and pets lived different lives with different desires and values.
With these thoughts, I walked up to her, peeked my head through her hair then I began to lick her face. Even though I didn’t understand what she was going through and I wouldn’t ever know, I wanted to be there for her. I wanted to comfort her.
“That’s weird. You’re so different from all the other dogs I’ve met. Gosh, if the other dogs saw me crying, they would probably bark at me to suck it up and move on.”
It was then I realized why they set me aside from my siblings in the liter. I wasn’t different in a bad way, I was different in a good way. It seemed to me like all the other dogs were trained to be guards, strict and firm, lacking any affection and the need for attention and love. But that wasn’t me. From the start, I was meant to be a companion, a friend and a pet. I was there to make my owner smile when they were upset, to make them laugh when they were crying and to ultimately be by their side when everyone else left them.
If her so-called friends were truly a part of society, why didn’t they show that they still accepted her? Wasn’t this a system created to prevent the idea of judgment from happening? What’s so embarrassing about failure? I always believed that failing only made you better because you wouldn’t make the same mistakes again? Is this new society really that perfect?
My dog sleeps next to me every night. Cuddled up in a ball with her back against the side of my stomach. One night, I woke up in the middle of the night to my dog freaking out. She was having a nightmare. With her constant whining and shrieks, I nudged her slightly to wake her up. She wouldn’t budge. “Pearl, it’s okay, it’s just a dream. Come here.” My dog stopped making noises and readjusted her body so that her back was pushed against my arm.
“Did you have a bad dream?” Pearl blankly stared at me. “I have to take my PCAT’s tomorrow, so I’m going to sleep first. Okay? Goodnight, Pearl.” I sat there, unsure of what dream I just had, but whatever it was. I was only glad that it wasn’t real.